Captive golf apparatus.



R. B. PETER. CAPTVE GOLF APPARATUS. APPLIOATION FILED mm1, laos.

Eatented Mai'. 9,1909.

2 SHEBTSSHEET l.

R. B; PETER. APTIVE GOLF APPARATUS. APPLIUATIUN FILED JUNE 1, 1908.

Patented Mar. 9, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

sfrafrns Application filed .Tune 1, 19%.

Specification of Letters Patent.

CAPTIVE GOLF APPARATUS..

rasantes, naar@ e, reca @ariel Ho. ff.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that l, ROBERT B. PETER, a citizen of the United States,residui@ at Rockville, inl the county of Montgomery and State of'Maryland, li ve invented certain new and useful improvements in CaptiveGolf Apparatus; and l do hereby declare the followingi to be a lull,clear, and

`consists in the construction and combinations of parts ashereinalterdescribed and claimed.

ln the accompanying drawingswFigure l is a perspective view of myapparatus, the direction pins not being shown. Fig. '2V-is a plan viewFof the complete apparatus.

Fig. 3 is a cross section on the line 3 3 of 2. Fig. 4 is a sectionthrough a part of thge apparatus showing the guide. Fig. 5 isaperspective view of a inodilied 'form ol apparatus 1n which the weightedbox is replaced by a spring scale. Fig. 6 is a top plan view oi thesaine. Fig. 7 1s a perspecvis a tive view of the sliding pointer, andFig. 8

perspective view of a modified i'orni thereof. f a, represents atablatvhich may be niade of any suitable material', but if inade ofinetal should be made of soine inetal that will not rust readily linda'the influence of the Weather. This t ble is lprovided with four Sharened lees b `referabl .made of iron i l i i j represents a golf ballwhich is perforated and through vfliich'passes o heavy string lc whichalso passes through toe guide a'nd is attached to the box g, whichslides loosely on the top of the table a.' The string lc is usuallyabout the size of 'an ordinary chalk line, and acts to graduallyovercome the movement e2 the golf bal alter ifhas been struck, so thatil, for example, the'oall .is struck witii a 'orcegreat enough to ordinarily send? it one hundred and 'fifty yards, the weight of the stringwill gradually overw corne the niovenient of nail; which at the end willgive a slr jerk to the box g, and the extent olf movement oi this box asinH dicated on the scale a ill denote the force with which the ball isstrucln, from which the distance tnat the ball would usually have.traveled can be readily calculated. I should be noted that in use tilestring l: is

laid on the ground in a nn'nliero loose coils so that when the ball isstruck, it will not ily back, and this isan important ieature oi niyinvention.

For the purpose oi indicating the direction in which the golf ball isdriven, l provide a series of Wlialebone pins W lli are stuck in theground on lines radiating frein the guide f, and at equal distancestherefrom, these pins being lettered mr, n, o on the draw ing. Theposition which" the ,string 7c assurnes when it drops on the ground,with relation to said pins, will enable the operator to determineWhether 'he pnas driven the ball in exactly the desired direction.

lt is well 1irnown tlistdiierent kinds of golf clubs are selected withreference te the length of the stroke. l therefore provide a series ofdifferent .sized Weights, so tliat one size could -loe put in the boxwhen a driver is being'used and another size when a mid-iron is used,etc. y

The operation of the niodiication shown in Figs. l-l is asicolloaf'szw'llie apparatus is set in the position shown :in thedrawing, care being taken that the table is set level. The heavn :rinlis -draii'n that it is practically straight between the box and theguide, and the reinaindr of the sv so arranged in a loose coil as shownon the drawing, the ball being placed upon an irrdin'ary tee. lhe usertlien strikes the ll exactly if he were playing the regni golf.. Theball its flight, of course. straiglitens out gradually lessens thei'oi'z-e with which the fics . 1 ball .is traveling, until finally thestring behomes straight, 'when it exerts a sharp pull `upon the box g,moving the same over the scale, the divisionsf of the scale and therg/weights in the box being so proportioned that the user can calculatejust how far the ball would go if struck in the usual manner.Furthermore, the relation of the string c to vvthe Whalebone pinsenables the player to see if l he has driven the ball in the desireddirection. Y Referring to the modiiication shown vin Figs. 5 to 8, inthese, figures the sliding Weighted boxis yreplaced by a sprin scalehaving a ratchet or other .means t ereon which revents the return of theointer at the end) of the4 *stroke until it is reileased b the golfer. p,represents a spring scale muc 1 like the ordinary ',h; scale now on themarket, provided witha central aperture q and an eye r, mounted so as torotate in one end thereof. A in'fs'is` adapted to passthrough this eyean be `driven into the ground, as shown in Fig. 5.' "The part p 'isrovided with the ordinary scale marks an with a f1.2 t ratchet it 'urepresents the pointer, which is providedl with grooves 'u in its sides.`This pointer is adapted to slide in the open space of the'frame, and isg'uided by the sides t ereof.. To the pointer is, attached a rod w,

Se having an eye a: at the end thereof, and this rod inside of the frameis surrounded by a coiled spring. Pivotally mounted on the pointer'u isa ratchet 1, supported ona pin 2 in bearings on the pointer, and havingits rear'e'nd normally4 pressed downward by the spring 3, the rear endof the pawl being adapted to` engage the teeth of the ratchet t. ln Fig.8 a modified form of the pawl is shown, which is provided with anenlarged 40 end 4 which is adapted to frictionally contact with the topor one of the sides ofthe frame of the scale and is pressed down by aspring 5 into contact with said side, so that the poing ter'maybereadily moved forward, but the rearward movementl thereof will bestopped by the awl 4 unless the spring 5 is compressed. y the user.Direction ins such as 1n, rn., and o are also provided wit 1 thismodiiication of the apparatus, but they are not shown on thedrawin Theadvantage of this form 'of the apparatus is that it is small and lightand can be carried in the pocket and set dbwn anywhere, simply bydriving the pin s through the eye r into the ground, said e *e beingloosely engaged with saidpin so that the scale may be moved freelytherearound. A heavy string 6 is attached at one end of the eye :t andat the other end to a golf ball 7. The operation of the form of thedevice shown in Figs. 5 to 8 is as follows :-The parts being in theposition shown in Fig. 5, the ball is struck by the golfer and the heavystring slowly overcomes the momentumoffthef'ball. When the string isstraightened out, it exerts a pull on the rod w, compressing the springy and moving the pointer u a distance over the scale proportional tothe'force of the blow. The ratchet locks the pointer at the extremeposition of its forward movement and the golfer can then calculate thedistance the golf ball would have moved il free. When it is desired touse thea paratus again, the awl is released from t e ratchet teeth orrom the side of the frame and the parts returned to their originalposition.

1. A captive olf a paratus, consisting of a table with a sca e anfibiuide in combination l with a Weighted box aga ted to slide upon 80 saidtabler a golf ball, and a flexible connection between saidjtox and saidball, said connection passin through said guide, substantially as descried.

2: A captive golf apparatus, comprising a 85 table provided with meansfor supporting it in 'a level position, and also provided wit i a scaleand-a uide at one'end, a wei hted box adapted to Side on said table, agolball, and a string connected to said ball and said box and passingthrough said guide, substantially as described.

3. A captive golf apparatus, consisting oi" a table provided wit ascale," and .with a guide at one end, a Wei hted box adapted to slideon' said table,.a olf ball, a heavy strin(r connecting said golf allwith said box` and passin through said guide and a number of pins aafpted to bestuck in the ground to mdicate t e direction of the stroke,substantially as described` 5 4. A captive olf apparatus, consisting ofa table provider? with a raised ledge, sharpened legs, a spirit.,level,and a guide at one end, a box having a removable weight there- 105 inand adapted to slide on said table, a voli ball and a heavy` stringconnected to said ball and said box, and passing through said guide,substantially as described.

- 5. ln a captive olf apparatus, the combiilo" nation of'a golf ba l, aheavy stringv attached to said golf ballysaid string being arranged i ina loose coil, whereby a sli ht and steadily increasing resistance is appied'to the,y ball after it is struck, and sliding means attached to saidstring for measuring the force 'of the blow upon the golfI ball as saidmeans sto )s at the end of the stroke, substantially as e scribed. f

ln testimony whereof; l aiiix my signature, V in presence of twowitnesses.

ROBERT PETER.

lNitnesses :A JOHN L. BRUNETT,

Orso H. W; TALBo'rr.

